The present invention relates generally to the trailer towing field and, more particularly, to a trailer hitch assembly including multiple receiver boxes for mounting a trailer and/or multiple towing accessories such as article carriers, bike racks, ski racks, winches or the like and a shroud therefore to provide a more aesthetically pleasing appearance.
It is long been known to construct towing hitch assemblies that are mounted to vehicles in order to allow the towing of trailers or the like. In recent years such hitch assemblies have been designed to include a receiver box having a rearwardly directed opening or cavity for the receipt of a hitch or draw bar that carries a hitch ball or other means allowing connection to a trailer. Examples of such a structure include the Insta-Hitch II and Custom Hitch Receiver 3565 as manufactured by Reese Products, Inc. of Elkhart, Ind. Such a hitch receiver is also disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,198, owned by Reese Products, Inc., the assignee of the present invention.
In addition to allowing the towing of trailers, a receiver box may be utilized to secure various accessories to the towing vehicle. Such accessories include, but are not limited to, various article carriers such as the bike carrier disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,103 to Duvernay et al. and a snowboard adaptor for bicycle racks such as described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/095,817 filed on Oct. 30, 1998. These accessories are received in the cavity of the receiver box of a trailer hitch assembly in the same manner a hitch bar is received therein for towing a trailer.
Of course, a trailer hitch assembly incorporating a single receiver box may either be used to tow a trailer or to hold a hitch accessory, not both. A more convenient and useful trailer hitch assembly would allow simultaneous use for both the towing of a trailer and the carrying of accessories. The present invention achieves this end by providing a trailer hitch assembly incorporating multiple receiver boxes that may be connected to a hitch bar for towing a trailer and/or one or more additional trailer hitch accessories.
In accordance with the purposes of the present invention as described herein, a trailer hitch assembly is provided incorporating a cross member, a pair of mounting brackets carried on the cross member and at least two and more commonly three hitch receivers carried on the trailer hitch assembly.
More specifically, the cross member includes a first end secured to a first of a pair of mounting brackets and a second end secured to a second of the pair of mounting brackets. Further, the at least two hitch receivers include a first receiver box mounted at a mid line or center line along the cross member and a second receiver box mounted to the cross member a spaced distance to a first side of the cross member from the first receiver box. Consistent with this description the trailer hitch assembly may also include a third receiver box mounted to the cross member a spaced distance to a second side of the cross member from the first receiver box.
In one particular embodiment, the first receiver box extends from the cross member in a substantially horizontal plane. The first receiver box is thereby particularly suited to receive a hitch bar and associated ball for towing a trailer. The second and third hitch boxes extend in a second plane projecting upwardly from the cross member at about a 10-30xc2x0 and more specifically, an approximately 20xc2x0 angle with respect to the horizontal.
At this upward inclination, gravity functions to further seat and secure any accessory in the second and third receiver boxes.
The invention may also include a chain plate and an anchor plate for securely interconnecting the first receiver box to the cross member. Still further, the invention may include a decorative shroud which may be removably mounted to the trailer hitch assembly to provide a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. In this way, the trailer hitch assembly is made less noticeable and is thereby more effectively and efficiently integrated into the overall lines and styling features of the towing vehicle to which the trailer hitch assembly is mounted.
Still other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description wherein there is shown and described a preferred embodiment of this invention, simply by way of illustration of one of the modes best suited to carry out the invention. As it will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.